


happy summer wedding

by lazulisong



Category: Kamen Rider Kabuto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-03
Updated: 2009-05-03
Packaged: 2017-10-17 04:54:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/173111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazulisong/pseuds/lazulisong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tendou's about three steps ahead of Kagami, as usual.</p>
            </blockquote>





	happy summer wedding

"So I think we should get married," said Tendou.

"Okay," said Kagami, dreamily, because Tendou had just put a plate of something involving sponge cake and berries and whipped cream and a single curl of chocolate so dark it practically absorbed light in front of him, and then, "Wait, what? _What?"_

Tendou picked up the cake again. Kagami made a betrayed sound in his throat and reached out for it. "I think we should get married," he repeated. "We're not setting a good example for my sisters."

"What example?" said Kagami, and then, "Seriously, what the hell?"

"You said okay," Tendou insisted, and held the cake above Kagami's head, just far enough so trying to get it back would result in undignified flailing, the probable destruction of the cake, and Tendou killing him with his mind.

"I think we need to go back to the part where we were an example to your sisters," said Kagami.

"We can't live together in sin," said Tendou, looking more old-maidish than Kagami had seen him. Considering that Kagami had been there the day that Juka had brought a male classmate casually home, that was saying something. Tendou had looked like he'd eaten a lemon, only more so. "Is that the sort of behavior you want to model for Juka and Hiyori?"

Kagami eyed the cake sadly. "Number one, we don't actually live together." Tendou raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I'm over here a lot and sometimes I fall asleep on the couch and -- I have my own apartment! I have things there! Number two, Hiyori is an adult. Number three, Juka is ... Juka, and she can make up her own mind. Number four, seriously, what the hell, Tendou."

Tendou's mouth set in a mulish line. "If you don't want to marry me, that's fine," he said stiffly.

Kagami put his head on the table and sighed. He took a deep breath and then propped his chin against the table, looking at Tendou from under the fringe of his bangs, and said, "Look, let's just go through this one thing at a time. Will you sit down for a minute and talk?"

"I always talk to you," said Tendou, even more stiffly, but he sat down, and, more importantly, put the cake down in front of Kagami again.

"Yes, I know," said Kagami. It was kind of amazing, really. "Tendou, seriously, we have known each other for three years. We have fought aliens. We have done rush hour at La Salle together. You once ate my cooking and didn't even throw up afterward. Why do you want to get married?"

Tendou's mouth tightened again stubbornly, and he narrowed his eyes at Kagami. "Why not?"

"Um," said Kagami.

"Your brother is driving me crazy," insisted Kagami, following Hiyori into the kitchen with a load of plates. It wasn't like he worked at La Salle any more, but habits died hard.

Hiyori looked at him.

"I mean, more so than usual," added Kagami, stacking dishes. "He wants to get married! I don't get it!"

"Do you want to get married?" said Hiyori. She squirted dish soap into the sink and turned on the faucet. "You shouldn't let him bully you into it."

"I think I can honestly say the thought of marrying Tendou Souji had never crossed my mind before he started talking about how we were setting you and Juka a bad example," said Kagami. "Are we setting you a bad example?"

Hiyori's mouth twitched slightly. "No," she said.

"Well then I don't know what he's on about," said Kagami, rolling up his sleeves.

Hiyori put her hand on his arm. He looked over at her. Her dark eyes were serious and steady as she looked up at him. "Would it be so bad?" she said.

Kagami could feel himself turning red. "No," he said, and then, "But he's being a complete jerk about it!"

"Nii-san doesn't always know how to say things," said Hiyori, which was about the biggest understatement Kagami had ever heard.

Kagami snorted and clattered the dishes in the sink. "I don't know why he wants to marry me, anyway."

"You're both idiots," said Hiyori, but her voice was fond.

\---  


> > > >   
>  **HeavensFlower:** Kagami-san~~~  
>  **RiderGatack:** hey jukachan how is  
>  **HeavensFlower:** Oniichan says I can pick out my dress  
>  **HeavensFlower:** for the wedding I mean  
>  **HeavensFlower:** Kagami-san?  
>  **RiderGatack:** what  
>  **RiderGatack:** seriously  
>  **RiderGatack:** what  
>  **RiderGatack:** why is he even  
>  **RiderGatack:** did he tell you that we were  
>  **RiderGatack:** i am never going to understand him  
>  **HeavensFlower:** well he said you'd talked about getting married and I should find a dress I liked  
>  **HeavensFlower:** You aren't? :(  
>  **RiderGatack:** fdklsfdlkasdl;;sdafjasl; we did not talk about getting married he told me that he thought we were setting a bad example for his baby sisters  
>  **RiderGatack:** and then when i tried to get him to explain his reasoning he told me i clearly wasn't interested in having a discussion and i've been living on cold combini meat buns and instant ramen ever since  
>  **RiderGatack:** well except for when my dad took me out to dinner and when i ate at la salle  
>  **RiderGatack:** your brother is weird  
>  **RiderGatack:** juka-chan?  
>  **HeavensFlower:** sorry  
>  **HeavensFlower:** oniichan reading over shoulder  
>  **HeavensFlower:** he says you're an idiot and then went on about how your loose morals will probably affect hiyori and me  
>  **HeavensFlower:** i think he really wants to marry you tho  
>  **HeavensFlower:** if it's any comfort  
>  **RiderGatack:** NOT IF IT'S TO SAVE HIS SISTERS FROM MY BAD INFLUENCE
>>>> 
>>>>   
>  \----
>>>> 
>>>>  **RuleofHeaven:** You are no longer allowed to talk to my sisters on the internet.  
>  **RiderGatack:** WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT  
>  **RuleofHeaven:** Hmmph.  
>  **RiderGatack:** OH MY GOD TENDOU SINCE WHEN DID YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT AN INSTANT MESSENGER PROGRAM EVEN _WAS_  
>  *****RuleofHeaven has blocked RiderGatack: Not until you marry me.**  
> 

  
\----

The worst part about having worked so much with Misaki-san was that he could totally tell when she was trying not to laugh until she cried, even if her face was composed and her eyes were serious.

"He won't let me eat at La Salle!" said Kagami hysterically. "He's sent so much business there that when I go over there there's no place to sit and Hiyori's too busy to talk to me! Juka has to like, text me secretly from school or I wouldn't have talked to her for two weeks!"

Misaki-san's mouth twitched. "By the way," she said, "I got a request to reserve the vineyard for an outdoor wedding." She paused, very deliberately. "Do you want the courtyard, or the orchard?"

"Thank you so much, Misaki-san," said Kagami bitterly. "I'm glad you remember the way that you grabbed me by the arm and reminded me in front of Tsurugi that I had asked you to help me pick out curtains and bedclothes."

To her credit, Misaki-san looked a little guilty, but she said, "I thought it was already arranged between the two of you."

Kagami just looked at her.

"Or at least that he'd told you beforehand," added Misaki-san. She picked up her bowl and tilted it back. Kagami watched in respectful silence as the entire bowl of ramen was vacuumed down, and she slammed the bowl back on the counter. She put down some coins on the counter and said, "My treat. Really, Kagami, what are you worried about? He wants to marry you."

"Yes, but why?" said Kagami, piteously.

Misaki-san just looked at him, and then picked up her bag. "Do you want to marry him?" she said.

"Not the point!" said Kagami, too loudly, and Misaki-san laughed and patted him on the head.

"You'll figure it out," she promised, and left the stand, her heels clicking on the pavement as she walked off.

\---

When Kagami got home to his apartment, he found Tendou sitting crosslegged on the floor, examining bridal magazines. Well, wedding magazines, he realized. There were two men holding hands and leaning toward each other. They were both dressed in white, crinkly outfits. "I am not," he said.

Tendou looked up and smiled at him. Kagami took a step back instinctively. "White silk," said Tendou.

"You know what happens when I wear white," said Kagami, considering an undignified flight and then realizing that Tendou would just make him suffer more. "Also, _the Discabil winery gardens?_ "

Tendou set his mouth stubbornly again and stared down at the magazine.

Kagami sighed and toed his shoes off, coming into the main living area. Tendou had made a pot of tea in Kagami’s old, battered kettle and poured it out into his equally battered tea pot. There were two cups out. Both of them were full with steaming tea. Tendou must have just finished pouring it out in time to go back to looking at his ridiculous magazines before Kagami opened the door. And where and when had Tendou gotten a key? Then again Kagami’s landlady was a proven sucker for Tendou and Kagami frankly suspected Tendou of knowing more of picking locks than a honest traveler on the path of heaven really should. He sat down beside the table. "Is this where I say 'Hi, honey, I’m home'?"

"If you want to lose your tongue, certainly," said Tendou, placid.

"This is kind of retarded," mumbled Kagami, but he took a drink of tea. Tendou had made it just like Kagami liked it best; strong with the faintest hint of honey to sweeten it. He set it down again and looked at Tendou. His dark head was bent over one of the magazines, looking at a page that showed a couple walking hand in hand down a sunny beach covered with white sand. The girl was dressed in some sort of flowy white dress that showed her back and the guy had his sleeves and pant legs rolled up. Tendou's hair curled damply against his neck and ears. His shirt was sticking very slightly to his skin, as if he hadn't bothered to dry off completely.

Kagami stared at the nape of Tendou's neck, exposed by the open collar of his shirt. A drop of water clung to the first knob of Tendou's neck. "You took a shower," he said, slowly.

"Yes, Kagami, some of us in civilized countries do believe in bathing occasionally." Tendou didn't look up, and his voice was very even.

"No, I mean, you took a shower here," said Kagami.

"I didn't use up all the hot water, if that's what you're asking," said Tendou.

Kagami thought about throwing the cup of tea at his head and then decided Tendou's sisters would look at him reproachfully. "Tendou, stop it."

"Stop what?" said Tendou, with just the right note of irritated confusion.

Kagami pinched his nose. "Did you really think that would work? Because I think I'm kind of insulted now."

"Think what would work?" said Tendou, in his low, dangerous voice -- which kind of had always turned Kagami on inappropriately and never more so than now, with Tendou's throat slipping out of his white shirt and his hands suddenly braced on the table, leaning toward Kagami.

"This," said Kagami, suddenly angry. He hooked his hand around the back of Tendou's neck and kissed him, not very well, but sloppy and awkward, over the table and in danger of spilling all the tea everywhere. Tendou held still for a dangerous second and then his mouth opened, not yielding but returning as good as he got, sucking on Kagami's tongue and letting Kagami chase the taste of green tea and toothpaste from his mouth. Tendou pulled away for a bare second, his eyes black, and Kagami could see the way his face was flushed deeply, his mouth parted and red, before Tendou moved to the other side of the table, so fast it was like he was in Clock Up.

He knelt beside Kagami and for a minute his eyes were so wild that Kagami thought Tendou was going to knock him down to the floor and devour him. Tendou took a deep, conscious breath and forced his body to stillness. He took Kagami's face between his hands, studying him for a long moment, his eyes gone secret and pleased, before he bent his head and kissed Kagami slowly, like he was savoring it. Kagami could taste the victory that Tendou thought he had won, as Tendou pressed close, his mouth moving slow and sweet over Kagami's.

For a minute Kagami was overwhelmed with tenderness for Tendou, for all of his strangeness and beauty and every hidden thing about him. He put his arms around Tendou's waist and bore him back to the floor. Tendou went willing and graceful, his black lashes hooding his triumphant eyes. Kagami kissed him again. He let Tendou slid one leg up to shift him closer. It wasn't as if Tendou hated it, he knew. He took another kiss, as gently as he could, and then sat up. Tendou lay on the floor, very still.

Kagami cleared his throat. "You should probably get home before it freezes. It's supposed to be really cold tonight."

Tendou turned his head and looked at him. Kagami met his eyes without flinching, although his eyes watered a little. Tendou's color was draining from his face, leaving him white and thin-lipped. He said, "This is ridiculous."

Tell me about it, thought Kagami, but he said, still meeting Tendou's eyes as best as he could, "I won't be tricked into agreeing, Tendou."

For a minute he thought that Tendou was really going to hit him, and then Tendou's face smoothed out into cool amusement and he sat up, saying, "No, Kagami, nobody would believe that anything could trick you --"

"Okay, we're done," said Kagami. He got up and went into his tiny bedroom. "If you don't want to leave tonight, you know where the blankets are. Sleep well."

He did not slam the door, and neither did Tendou, apparently, when he left.  
\----

Kagami's week was not improved by slightly accusing text messages from Juka-chan (ONIICHAN IS VERY UPSET WHAT HAPPENED and KAGAMI-SAN HE ALMOST FOLLOWED ME TO SCHOOL AGAIN I THOUGHT YOU'D BROKEN HIM OF THAT HABIT) and Hiyori staring at him for about five long, silent minutes before abruptly packing up a boxed lunch and pushing it at him. Tadokoro-san patted him awkwardly on the back and muttered things about going straight ahead, Kagami. Even Renge tried to draw him into a totally horrifying conversation about how she hoped he would make Shishou happy, and if not -- she pulled the wire of her garotte out meaningly. And then he had to live on his own cooking, and worse, the station's cooking, after he pulled a double shift.

Then he came home, pulling out the knot in his tie wearily as he climbed up the steps to his apartment. He looked up and saw his father at his door, waiting for him. Kagami stared at him blankly for a minute and then covered his face. "I'm sorry, Dad, I totally forgot," he said. "Let me get changed."

"There's no hurry," said his father, trying for a smile. He stood aside for Kagami to unlock the door and followed him in, looking around at the slightly dusty interior and dishes stacked in the rack. His smile went a little more real. "You're doing very well, I see."

Kagami shrugged and grabbed a shirt and suit. "I'm not here enough to mess it up much," he said. And Tendou had had a tendency to come over and tidy in his compulsive way. It wasn't so much that Kagami thought that Tendou really enjoyed housework. It was more that it chafed at him unless the enviroment around him was in order. Kagami kind of wondered when his apartment had become an area that Tendou felt like he needed to keep in order. He pulled open his drawer and grabbed a tie. It was from Juka, whose opinions of his ties echoed her brother's, only more vocal and less 'hook Kagami by the throat and drag him to a store where everybody knows and worships Tendou, and stand over him while terrifying salesladies in four inch heels have frightening, serious discussions about which season of color Kagami should wear'.

"You're working very hard," said his father. Kagami took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. They were past that, he told himself. They had worked very hard and sometimes Tadokoro-san had given him meaningful looks until he had a real conversation with his father, and he knew that if his father said that he thought Kagami was working very hard, it was just that. Nothing more.

"It's been busy at the station," he said, going into the bathroom. He stripped quickly out of his uniform, smoothing it on the hanger, and got into his suit. He came out, knotting his tie.

"Have you seen Tendou-kun lately?" said his father, and okay, maybe they were past that sort of thing, but Kagami could hear a loaded question when it was aimed at him.

"Dad, can we not talk about Tendou for a while?" said Kagami. It was kind of ridiculous how much he missed Tendou's presence, and they were just having a fight. He hadn't even gone to Paris. His father's eyebrows shot up, but he nodded. Kagami shrugged on his coat and picked up his keys. "I'm ready," he said. "Where are we going?"

"I have reservations at Le Chat Noir," said his father. "But if you want to go to La Salle --"

Kagami flinched. His father's eyebrows shot up again, but he didn't say anything when Kagami said, "No, that's fine, I just ate there for lunch."

Le Chat Noir was one of the fashionable, dimly lit restaurants that his father favored. The wait staff was foreign, slender and attractive, and the food was not as good as La Salle. Kagami much preferred small restaurants run by families, except for the part where the waitress inevitably called him honey and told him he needed to get a girlfriend. But you couldn't have incredibly awkward conversations with your semi-estranged father in them, because there was always a child being loud and orders being bawled from the dining room to the kitchen, so they went to the type of restaurants his father liked.

Kagami pushed the menu toward his father when the terrifyingly polished blond put it down and gave them a professionally bright smile. His father ordered for them without looking at the menu.

Tendou never let him order at a restaurant. Sometimes he tried pointing out that he was not, in fact, a girl, and could in theory take Tendou on. Tendou raised his eyebrows, smiled sweetly, and continued talking to the maitre d'. They always miraculously appeared when Tendou arrived at a restaurant.

"How was your week?" said his father.

"Well," began Kagami, and stopped. The station had been busy with small things, one after another, and he'd spent some time at Tadokoro-san's soba restaurant and with Misaki-san, and then he'd had a violent texted argument with Juka-chan over how it was not his fault that her brother was crazy, and his landlady was giving him vegetables from her family's farm in the country and pointed hints about that nice young man. He really missed Tendou and he wanted to give in and marry him, but he didn't want to marry him because of some weird duty or obligation Tendou had conceived in his own strange, incredibly attractive head. So they were fighting about it, but it wasn't really a fight because Tendou wasn't someone who argued. It was more like a cold war.

His father made a choking sound and reached for his wine glass, and that was when Kagami realized he had blurted out everything.

"Pardon," said the server, who was standing next to to them, listening with a rapt expression. "You speak of Monsieur Tendou? Monsieur Souji Tendou, no? If I may be forgiven, if m'sieu does not want him, I will be glad to take him."

Kagami put his head down on the table and groaned.

  
Afterward, they went (fled) to a different restaurant for dessert and coffee. (The server had eventually stopped hovering hopefully but had given Kagami a business card, which was how he found out the server was actually a girl.) Kagami's dad was still a little shell-shocked around the edges, but trying to hold up.

He said, "Tendou-kun wants to marry you?"

Kagami began to peel off the label from the bottle of beer he had ordered. It came off in small, white strips. "I think so." He scraped at one of the spots of glue. "I don't know why, though."

"Has he asked you?" said his father.

"No, more like told me that we were a bad influence on his sisters," said Kagami. Then, struck, he said, "Did he ask you for permission or something? Oh God, did he ask you for my hand and heart? Because if he did --"

"No," his father said. His face twisted a little. "I don't think that young man would 'ask' me for anything." He drew a deep breath and for a minute Kagami thought he was going to say something more. Then he let it out again slowly and said, "I think anybody would be glad to marry you," and then, to Kagami's horror, "His father was the same way," and looked wistful.

"Oh my God," said Kagami. "What? _What?_ Dad, are you trying to tell me ---"

"About his wife," said Kagami's father quickly, but he looked guilty. "Not about -- well, he was always sure to get what he wanted."

"I'm too sober for this conversation!" said Kagami hysterically.

His father frowned at him. "Our friendship was always pure," he said, furthering his only surviving son's desire to crawl into a hole with a large bottle of whiskey and never come out again. "But Kusakabe-kun was a very determined person."

"That," said Kagami, "is kind of an understatement, going by Tendou."

"Do you want to marry him?" said his father, and a pained look crossed his face. He waved down a waiter and ordered two whiskeys on the rocks.

"Why does everybody keep asking me that!" said Kagami. The whiskeys arrived promptly and he took a bracing gulp. "I just want to know why he wants to marry me!"

He felt a presence by his side and looked up. The waiter, a large, burly man with a goatee, raked his eyes up and down Kagami in what he clearly thought was a sensual way, and said, "I could give you a list, if you liked."

"You're talking to _my son_!" bellowed Kagami's father.

Kagami covered his face with his hands.

"Well, obviously his boyfriend isn't treating him right, if he doesn't know why he wants to marry him," said the waiter, oblivious to his coming doom.

"Look," said Kagami, "Tendou is not actually my boyfriend and -- are you all right?"

The waiter turned even paler, if possible. "Tendou? Tendou Souji?"

"Yes?" said Kagami warily.

"Please forgive me," said the waiter, dropping to his knees and bowing. "I meant no disrespect. I would never -- please ask him to do my family the courtesy of making my death quick."

"What the hell!" said Kagami, throwing his hands up. The waiter cringed further into the floor. "Look, stop, Tendou is not going to kill you."

The waiter gave him a dubious look.

"Well, okay, he might make your life a living hell instead," Kagami was forced to admit, "but I won't let him -- _oh dear God, I really am his boyfriend_."

"Another whiskey, on the house, sir?" said the waiter respectfully.

  
Kagami would never admit he fled out of the resturant, but they certainly left at a really rapid walk. Outside it had just gone past dusk; the city sky was outlined in a deep golden-pink shading into a deep blue. Kagami took a deep breath and let it out again. "I think I'll take the train home," he said. "I'm sure you've got a busy day tomorrow."

His father opened his mouth and then closed it again. His brows drew slightly together.

"Dad, I'm not going to Tendou and confessing my eternal love for him," said Kagami, exasperated. Sometimes he really wondered about his father.

"I didn't think you were," said his father, looking guilty. "At least let me get you to the station."

Kagami forced a smile. "Thanks," he said. He really wanted to be alone and think things out, but he could live with his dad driving him to the station.

The drive to the train station was silent. As Kagami got out of the car, his father said, "Arata --"

Kagami turned and looked at him.

"I just," began his father, and stopped, and then, as if the words were torn from him, "I want you to be happy. No matter what."

Kagami flushed to his neck. "I know that, Dad," he said stiffly, and then, "See you next time, okay?" and walked off. He was intensely aware of his father's gaze following him down the steps to the entrance of the station.

He tried not to think of anything while he waited for the train. It was a useless effort, but he kept at it until he boarded the train.

It was late enough that the train was not crowded; mostly salarymen in crumpled business suits sleeping standing up and teenagers going to parties or coming home from school. Kagami sat opposite a pair of them. One of them was deeply asleep, his mouth open and drooling against the dark wool of his friend's shoulder. His face was slack and trusting somehow, peaceful and secure. His friend had his head resting on his dark hair. His eyes were nearly closed, dozing, but there was something watchful, wary, about him. When someone passed them, his eyes flickered open, as if to gauge them.

Kagami studied him for a minute. There was something strange and familiar about him, as if -- the boy's eyes flashed open and Kagami realized that he was a Worm. He was either Native or one that had chosen to hide and pass as human. The boy's posture shifted subtly, covering his friend's body. Kagami looked away, and the boy let his body gradually relax. His eyes stayed on Kagami, though, waiting for him to do something.

Kagami spoke without really meaning to. "Is he human?"

"He's mine," said the boy, with quiet, vicious sincerity. "What does it matter if he's one of us or not?"

"I'm not one of you," he said quietly, so the boy's companion would not wake up.

The boy studied him for a minute. "Gatack," he said finally, not really surprised. "Are you going to destroy me?"

"If I did, he'd be sad, wouldn't he?" said Kagami.

The boy let out a deep, slow breath. His companion stirred and mumbled, and he put his hand over the other's, squeezing gently. "I hope so."

"I have to get off at the next stop," said Kagami, looking away.

  
He really should have not gotten off until two stops down, but it was only a mile or so to his apartment, and it was worth the walk to see the boy's shoulders relax as he stood and walked to the door of the car.

Anyway -- he stopped, puzzled. There was a mechanical, familiar buzzing noise, coming closer. It wasn't Gatack, whose wings had a distinctive, vicious whine, and tended to clack its mandibles as it flew toward him, as if trying to tell him all about what was going on before they even got there. It sounded like -- "Kabuto!" he said, as the little red thing hovered in front of him. "What's wrong?" The Kabuto Zector buzzed anxiously, making circles around him.

There was only reason he could imagine for the Kabuto Zector to seek him out. "I'm following you," he said, and broke into a run as the Kabuto Zector zoomed in a wide circle around him and led the way. His mind was mostly blank with the effort of running, but he spared enough to worry about why Kabuto had come to get him and not Gatack -- and what had happened to Tendou, that Kabuto had no choice but to involve him. Even if Tendou was unable to transform, the Zectors were vicious in the defense of their human partners. Kabuto, who was relatively good natured, would attack until it defeated its target or it was smashed to bits if it felt that Tendou was threatened. (Gatack, even Kagami had to admit, would attack even if Kagami wasn't threatened, and its mandibles could cut through titanium alloy, let alone flesh and bone. He also had the feeling that if you smashed Gatack to bits, the bits would continue attacking until you pulverized them, and then the dust would probably try to get into your lungs and _destroy you from within._ )

He had just realized that the area around him was familiar when the Kabuto Zector zoomed up a building, and Kagami skidded to a halt, staring up at his own apartment building. In fact, Kagami could see it buzzing around his door and then coming down again to circle him anxiously.

A horrible thought struck him. "Please, no," he begged the universe in general, and took off up the stairs of his building, taking them two at a time.

When he got to his floor he stopped long enough, half bent over, to drag in a couple of wheezing breaths before he looked up, still panting. Tendou was standing in front of his door, with the Kabuto Zector buzzing around him and -- oh God -- the Gatack Zector hanging by its mandibles to his wrist.

"GATACK!" bawled Kagami, rushing across the landing. "How many times have I told you ---"

Gatack buzzed at him, but did not let go of Tendou. There was a distinct undertone of 'smug' in the way it was buzzing.

"You let Tendou go this instant!" said Kagami.

Gatack, not that Kagami really expected any differently, stayed attached to Tendou's wrist.

"Your Zector," said Tendou, in a voice that dripped ice, "felt the need to drag me here."

Kagami covered his face with his hands. Then, "Wait, Kabuto let it?"

Tendou transferred his icy glare to his own Zector, which dipped in midair and flew behind Kagami. "I'm not protecting you," he said automatically, and then realized his neighbors were probably listening from their doors in great interest. He pulled his key out and unlocked the door. "Come in," he said.

Tendou somehow managed to kick off his shoes neatly in the entry, even with Gatack hanging off him. Gatack must not have been putting all his weight on Tendou's wrist, because Tendou was holding it more or less naturally, and Kagami couldn't see any bruising. So it wasn't trying to hurt Tendou, which was a relief. Kagami closed and locked the door and tried for a severe look at Gatack. "What did we talk about the last time you tried something like this?" he said sternly. "We don't nip people on the bottom, no matter how much we think they deserve it, do we? And we _also_ don't drag people half-way across the city. It's not nice."

Gatack made a rude noise.

"Do we want to sleep in the alloy box tonight?" said Kagami, even more sternly.

Gatack hesitated, and then loosed its grip on Tendou's wrist and sullenly went to its usual perch in Kagami's hair.

"Thank you," said Kagami. "I'm glad we managed to resolve this without an ambulance being called this time."

Gatack refused to dignify that with a reply. Tendou's eyebrows were as high as they could possibly go. "You're very good friends, aren't you," he said.

Kagami sighed. "Do you have any idea why my Zector felt the need to drag you over here, Tendou? Because I'd like to hear it."

Tendou flicked his eyes to the side, the way he did when he didn't want to answer a question. Kabuto landed on his shoulder, buzzing at him scoldingly. "Don't think I've forgotten _your_ part in this fiasco," said Tendou coldly, "because I haven't."

"Tendou," said Kagami.

Tendou lowered his eyes. He was silent for a minute, and just as Kagami was about to speak, he said, as if it was being dragged from him, "I remember when my parents died, I decided that it wasn't worth it to care for anybody, since they left you. I told Grandmother this, and she said one day I'd think differently. And then Juka came, and I saw Hiyori again, but I -- I never felt like they would be mine forever." He moved to the kitchen area, turning on the sink and gathering cups and the teapot and washing them, as if he couldn't help himself. "And that was all right because they'd find other people to care about. And as long as they were happy --" he trailed off, staring at the sink.

Kagami took a step toward him.

"I never," said Tendou, his voice very low, "I never, ever wanted to care for anybody other than my sisters, ever again."

Kagami moved closer, without really meaning to. He didn't quite touch Tendou, but he stood behind him, his hands on the counter between Tendou's. Tendou's body radiated warmth.

"It's too hard," said Tendou. "It hurt too much. Then I --" He didn't continue, but let out a long sigh and leaned against Kagami.

Kagami lowered his head carefully, pressing his cheek against the side of Tendou's head, against his glossy hair. "I won't let you lose me," he said. "No matter what."

Tendou gave a short, harsh bark of laughter. "I know. But it's still -- sometimes I think I must be a very selfish sort of person. I don't -- I don't like to need people."

"It's okay," said Kagami, wrapping his arms around Tendou's waist, his palms resting against the whipcord strong muscles of his abdomen. "It's funny, isn't it. Before everything started, I didn't even know there was something missing."

Tendou shifted a little, looking at him. His face was so close Kagami could see every distinct eyelash fringing his eyes, before Kagami closed his eyes, leaning back into Tendou so they supported each other.

"Hey," he said, opening his eyes again. He turned Tendou around to face him. Tendou braced his weight against the counter as Kagami leaned into him. There was just the edge of a smile beginning to dawn on Tendou's mouth. "Let's get married."

Tendou shifted so Kagami was crowded between his legs and Tendou was half balanced on him and half on the counter. His mouth curved smugly. "I thought you'd never ask."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The One Whose Head Fits On Your Shoulder (The Dental Caries Remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/193712) by [Estirose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose)




End file.
